Yang receives prestigious AACR career development award

Shih-Hsin (Eddy) Yang, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Radiation Oncology and associate scientist in the experimental therapeutics program at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center has been awarded the AACR-Genentech BioOncology Career Development Award for Cancer Research at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in April. The two-year, $100,000 award represents a joint effort to encourage and support junior faculty who are in the first four years of a faculty appointment to advance the field of cancer research on the human epidermal growth factor receptor family pathway and establish successful career paths in this field.

Yang’s award will fund research investigating novel DNA repair independent mechanisms of breast tumor susceptibility to PARP inhibitors, a highly publicized new class of compounds that target tumor cells that are defective in repairing damage to their DNA. Using pilot funding from the UAB Breast Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence grant, the Yang lab unexpectedly uncovered exquisite susceptibility of certain breast cancer cells to PARP inhibitors as a single agent despite being able to repair damaged DNA.

“These inhibitors are very well tolerated, and our observations may explain the better-than-expected tumor response in recent clinical trials in heavily treated patients,” Yang says. “This award from the AACR will allow us to potentially uncover other targets that may lead to future therapeutic strategies and ultimately improve outcomes and patient quality of life.”

An estimated 625 students will participate in the commencement ceremony, and 745 students will graduate. The university’s highest degrees will be conferred on 79 students from 18 states and seven countries in the doctoral hooding ceremony.

Following hip fracture increases after a reduction in reimbursement rates for DXA scans led to fewer scans, a UAB physician joined other advocates and successfully lobbied to increase DXA scan reimbursements to better identify and reduce hip fractures.

Christopher S. Brown, Ph.D., former vice president of Research for the University of North Carolina System and director and primary investigator of the NASA/North Carolina Space Grant, tapped to grow UAB’s $500 million annual research portfolio.

For the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Human Rights Award celebration, Henry Panion III designed a showcase of Alabama artists and the legacy of the civil rights movement. Central to the production are selections and performing artists from guitarist Eric Essix’s new recording “This Train: The Gospel Sessions.”